In diabetes management, there exists devices which allow diabetic patients to measure their blood glucose levels. One such device is a hand-held electronic meter such as a blood glucose meter such as the Freestyle® blood glucose monitoring system available from Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., of Alameda, Calif. which receives blood samples via enzyme-based test strips. Typically, the patient lances a finger or alternate body site to obtain a blood sample, applies the drawn blood sample to the test strip, and inserts the test strip into a test strip opening or port in the meter housing for analysis and determination of the corresponding blood glucose value which is displayed or otherwise provided to the patient to show the level of glucose at the time of testing.
With the decreasing cost of electronic components and a corresponding increase in data processing capabilities of microprocessors, computational capability of electronic devices have been rapidly increasing. However, currently available glucose meters are generally configured with limited functionalities related to glucose testing. Additionally, patients who rely on the usage of glucose meters or other health related devices to monitor and treat health conditions, such as diabetes, also rely on a supply of consumable products employed by said glucose meters or other health related devices.
For patients who are frequent users of the health related devices, such as diabetics that test glucose levels and possibly administer insulin several times daily, having a sufficient supply of the test strips and insulin is critical. More often than not, it is the case that patients run out of the test strips or insulin, which necessitates a trip to the drugstore or healthcare professional office, which in some cases, may not be practical or convenient. Furthermore, it is also inconvenient to consistently maintain a log or keep track of the number of test strips and amount of insulin that remains until replenishment strips and insulin are purchased. On the other hand, it is wasteful to simply purchase a large quantity of test strips and insulin for storage, which may eventually be lost, that take up storage space, may have an expiration date after which use of the item may be undesirable to the health of the patient, and include an up front cost. This is also true for many other medical testing or monitoring devices, including, for example, measurement of blood coagulation times, cholesterol and lipids, and other diagnostic monitoring tests.